How Formula 1 is Filmed (It's a Technical Masterpiece) 

I just found out that a few weeks ago Wendover Productions made a similar video on the topic! If you want some more information on the subject check it out here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dwmJ9O9_mLM.html

Fun fact: There are two high end slow motion cameras, each constantly posted on Toto Wolff and Jos Verstappen to see when they will smash something.

"It's a miracle how they combine everything into a TV footage." *Monaco, 2021, showing Stroll go over a kerb*

1:52 Fun fact: the reason was that "back in the 90's"on board footage was send to the helicopter. That's why there was loss in signal from the onboard cams when F1 cars drove through tunnels and bridges. Nowadays there are multiple wireless access points placed (transmitters and receivers) around the circuit. This enabled the helicopter to make cool shot.

I loved how you made a list of what you would talk about and then talked about all those things. No clickbait, this video is a masterpiece as well!

Nice video. As a member of the F1 replay team, I can say that your info is pretty accurate. There are a few things that have changed recently, but overall the video is a very good representation of what we do!

Very well produced, researched and executed. Never would have seen this if I didn’t come across the Reddit post. As a long term F1 fan, I gained a better understanding of the process. Great, great job!

Excellent video. I have been watching F1 for nearly 50 years and never seen a 'behind the scenes' video like this. Well done. I'm looking forward to seeing my first live race next week in Austin. Keep it up!

My god the effort put in by the camera teams is insane. I never even really thought about how they pulled this off every weekend. Thanks for all of this insight, it's actually blown my mind.

As a cameraman on the F1 in the early days, I can add a few things. Each cameraman has a button to press if he sees anything unusual, which flags a border around his recorded image in the replay area. Often you film the leaders and then quickly re-establish on a second battle, sometimes a third. This was tricky in the early days with black and white viewfinders. The fabulous Broadcast Centre included a canteen and bakery. Fun times...

They also introduced helmet cams this year, so you can see what it's like to race a f1 car. Go take a look at Alonso's lap at Spa this year, it is amazing

The video we didn't ask for, but really needed

Helmet cams are insane. Hope we get to see more of those.

Never realized how much goes into filming F1. Just shows how well planned out it is. Thanks for sharing, Tommy!

I got this recommended after watching the insane season finale in Abu Dhabi. Amazing research and sum up for everybody highly interested in what's really going on off-track and how many people are involved to make all this happen smoothly and enjoyably!

Dude, I'm a camera fan, that was as you say "insane". We never realise what goes on, and the techonology. Especially that Canon lens and those slomo cameras

I always wondered how hard it must be to manage so many cameras and microphones with so much accuracy, 0 mistakes because it is a live broadcast and still be able to do all this stuff instantly! Its one of the most fascinating things about F1 and no one really pays much attention to it. Whenever I watch a race, my mind wonders of how these people are able to capture masterpieces like this! The amount of skill must be otherwordly... Btw, how are these knew helmet cams (inside the helmets) even a thing??

Brilliant video! Congratulations on all this hard work.

This video was made so well!!! I really enjoyed watching this.

I know this is an old video, but this was damn interesting. I love behind the scenes things, and I've really enjoyed F1 for a number of years. I would love to see the dude, calling the shots during a live race. It would be so interesting.

As someone who's done live broadcast work from cameras to switcher to director, I think you did a great job on the video! I have one nit to pick though... That's a Boom Lift, not a Scissor Lift! A Scissor Lift only goes straight up and down, and has a scissor action frame beneath it. A Boom Lift is, well, on the end of a Boom. Generically they can all be called Manlifts, but just as yellow construction equipment is not all called a "bulldozer", not all lifts are called Cranes or Scissor Lifts! Lol

I'm a Professional Cam Op (Not for F1- But I do have op buddies who do). This is such a great wide view of what goes into all of it. Excellent job! Keep it up!

Hey man, just been recommended this and it's a really great vid I used to work in the production team at F1 and just a couple of indsider things I thought you might like to know! - the curb cameras are known as flip flops as they are always in a pair, one looking at the cars front on entering the corner and one looking at the rear of the cars on exit - the pit box top down cameras used to be a functional thing only as slow mo black and white cameras as a verification tool to measure the speed of pit stops (and to ensure penalties were serving the correct amount of time). Because it was a cool view they upgraded them to be broadcast quality - Just on the logistics, all of the computer hardware is built into flight containers, so those containers can just be lifted and dropped down wherever without having to renetwork everything every race. Rigging the whole broadcast centre would take a day, it would then be tested for a day and then ready to go. Derig would usually take about 3 hours after the race. There was one extreme case in 2019 in Japan where the whole operation had to be moved inside the pit building to shelter from a typhoon that hit the track. It was derigged, moved, rigged again and tested in a day! It's not just a production team in the sense of audio visual, the data platform that acquires data from the cars and then sends it to the teams, broadcast and external clients is done by F1 too, as well as the main timing system and backup manual timing systems. This was so well researched though, I was so ready to do the internet thing and correct everything you had to say but it was pretty spot on! great stuff!

Great work man, really helped me understand how things work. I haven't found any others having this research done, so really congrats for all your effort!

Passion and experience. Been an F1 fan for most my life 40 plus years and Pro sound engineer for 30 years .Impressed and thankful to see a young person mix and demonstrate the behind the scenes audio video works of of F1. This was a great video to watch and enjoy, great job on all levels. True passion for his craft and details involved to give us "The Best or Nothing" .lol I had to...👀🙏🏼

Here because of F1 subreddit, this was an awesome watch, kudos!

As a photographer and lifelong (30+ years) fan of formula one, you've done both of my favorite subjects true justice. Thank you. 👏🏻 Subbed

this was video was recommended on my homepage and I'm so glad I clicked it! I got into f1 in march 2021, followed the season, teams, and drivers and have read and watched quite a bit to learn more about the sport and I found this really insightful. this was my first video of yours that I've watched and it was more than enough to want to check out your channel so I just wanted to say great job on this and I look forward to more f1 videos from you!

Yo, F1 fan herer didn't know you or your content before, but the joyful glint in your eyes while you were talking about the different camera set up and their speciality. It really caught me eye and I wanted to say kudos to you, I learn a few fun things in you video and felt entertained. Loved it!

They have changed a major part on how they process the footage in real time. There is an on site base that they call the ETC (Event Technical Centre) which it's main job is to transmit all of the camera footage, audio and telemetry from the cars and track sensors back to their main base at Biggin Hill airfield in Kent UK and what they are calling the RTC (Remote Technical Centre). This data is transmitted by either dedicated fibre optic internet connection or satellite link back to the UK. Then almost all of the production of the world feed is done from there. This has drastically reduced the amount of equipment and personnel that is being flown around the world to product the broadcast. There is still some vision mixing happening at the track in the ETC in case the communication link back to the UK goes down they can switch the broadcast of the world feed over to the on site team and production suite. It is so cool how they are doing this.

"Technical masterpiece," indeed! I had no idea just _how_ complex this production was for every race. The behind-the-scenes crews are the true heroes.

For me, it's the person dealing with the main feed- the decisiveness to tell a story from all the insane angles... Congrats

very informative Tommy...have been watching F1 for so many years....but never wondered, what happens behind the scenes.....takes a great effort to compile and present it nicely and with a great passion.....and good to see youth like yourself setting as an example to others...!!!! All the best and looking forward for more such videos - Anand from Bangalore, India

This video seems like it’s produced by a whole team. Great quality, great production, great sound, great storyline, even the little “outtakes” are awesome. This is an amazing, very entertaining video. Well done.

As a fan of F1 and the audiovisual world, I found this video incredible, very well edited, explained, etc... The production that F1 has behind is crazy. Congratulations on the video.

I’m a Formula 1 fanatic and I’ve been wondering practically everything you’ve covered in this video for ages! Really interesting and revealing video mate. 👍 I know SO much about F1 and I know how deeply and truly complicated it is (technology and engineering-wise) but there’s also so much that goes on behind the scenes which just elevates the level of complexity. 😰

First minute and a half shows how much you care for what you do. Thanks, keep up with the good content!

Just got this is my recommendations, and I'm not dissapointed! I've had these questions for a while and you have explained it very vividly!! ❤️. I would love to see more F1 BTS !

Saw it on reddit, always was interested in f1 cameras. It changed a lot in the last 10 years, but here is still a way to improve the feeling, especially track heights difference and overall speed

RU-vid has me in an F1 spiral of videos and somehow I made it here. This is awesome. I always love to hear about the behind the scenes of how things get made and this was pretty comprehensive and an interesting look at what all it takes.

VERY well done, Tommy!! I love all of the details and great editing all jammed into 11 minutes. Thankful this video popped up on my feed.

well done, mate! love this video. the transitions, content, honesty, your voice, the script, my man: EVERYTHING is so well done.

This channel is so high quality! I really enjoyed this video :)

I’m a big F1 fan and stumbling upon this, this is gold! Very Well put. You’re so natural at it. 👏

Man! You did an AMAZING job of this! Two airliners to carry all the hardware for live broadcasting is wild!!

I feel like being a track-side cameraman must be a really fun job, definitely something i would look into in future

Well done mate. On those expensive Canon lenses you mentioned. Key feature is that apart from the huge zoom ratio they boast, they maintain focus all the way throughout while zooming.

Been a huge F1 fan since i was a child ( Micheal Schumacher's Ferrari glory days), and recently began watching Netflix drive to survive. But never knew how they made the presentation so seamless these days compared to back then. This was an amazing presentation and video. Loved it. Thank you.

What makes the Experience so good in P, Q and R Session is, if they cut to another scene, for example the following corner or straight, they keep the sound of the previous Camera and slowly fade it out so it makes the transition smoother and much more comfortable. They have done this since at least early 2000's

Being an F1 fan, I appreciate this insight into the whole process. Thanks.

Very well done!! I can only add that the special Phantom cameras are only a small portion of Slow-Motion cameras. The majority are Grass Valley LDX86n cameras in 150 or 300 fps (50Hz) or 180 or 360 fps (60Hz). Also the wireless Pitlane cameras can run in 150pfs or 180fps via Wireless transmission.

You have like a constant smirk, on both sides. Awesome

Well done! I’ve often wondered at what was involved in all these amazing F1 live visuals we get during a race, and imagine the bandwidth required from all those mobile cameras!

Well done ! I have followed F1 for 45 years and always wondered how the TV production works. That took a lot of time to put together I bet! Thank you...

I've been following F1 since the early 80's when I would get up at 4 am to watch and have to adjust rabbit-ears (antenna) to get fuzzy reception. THAT SAID...I am REALLY impressed at the clear, concise and informative presentation you have worked your ass off to post here! I learned a LOT... and I NEVER MISS A RACE. You've done a SPECTACULAR JOB!

Very well put together video! I especially enjoyed seeing how the broadcast crew announces which camera to go to next. Well done!

Fantastic job!! Thank you for all your time you spent so all of us to see for free!!! Cheers!❤

I’d love to see more drivers helmet pov shots during the race and qualifying as well, it’s some of the most breathtaking shots ever. Great video btw. 🙌

I've been an F1 fan since 2003 and this is the first time I did wonder how everything is filmed. Thank you for the content.

thanks for the research you put into this and the time. i truly loved this peek behind the scenes ♥️

Been a F1 since 1989 watching Senna and a new kid named Michael. I enjoyed this video. Great job

Fantastic job on this! I went the inaugural Montreal Grand Prix in 1978 and many more since then and have been a big fan ever since. Coverage has greatly evolved from those days and you nailed it! More please!

Excellent work! I’ve been watching F1 for decades and I have a real appreciation for someone like you for breaking down all the different aspects of filming an F1 Grand Prix. You just got yourself a new sub 👍

I am a huge f1 fan, following since 04 Very good presentation. I noticed the Historic Monterey T shirt right away. Thanks again!! Keep em coming

Thank you, Oml TYSM for citing your sources, nobody else does it and it should be always done

I've been watching F1 for many many years never given much thought into the "filming" process of a grand Prix but wow! This video was incredible very interesting and put together brilliantly I've never watched one of your videos before, but am now going to have a look through this was excellent thanks for making it!

I am a sound production student and this was SOOOO helpful and interesting to me. Thank you for this! great video Tommy

This guy is amazed by the quality production of F1, while I lay in bed and wonder how the hell is he so motivated to research all this, record everything, edit it + add all the b-roll shots and then add everything to the description. Literally mad.

Fantastic video Tommy! Love the research and footage you put into this.

Just banger after banger with this guy 🔥

Great vid - I've often wondered of the logistics of stitching such a massive thing together live. And how all the teams and productions could finish a race in one location on a Sunday and be practicing in another the next Thursday. Crazy!

Hey, you did a great job on that bro!! Very interesting breakdown on the indeed AMAZING feat those guys pull off at these F1 Races! I have worked on very small teams in College to provide live coverage of sports events, and even THAT was very hard. What those guys are achieving is pretty mind blowing. Especially when you also consider the speed the event they are covering is moving! Good job man, I look forward to more videos from you!

Outstanding video, great job! Thank you so much for all the hard work!! Makes me love F1 even more

Very well done. Have enjoyed watching the races but this “what it takes” was an eye opener. Well produced.

Always thought about how all this worked!! Killed it!

Two years later this long time F1 fan and videography/photography creative learned some new stuff. Great production and your hard work shows. Thank you!

Brilliant video! Really great to watch, so thanks for the endless research you had to do!

Been watching F1 my whole life. This was very intesting to see. Very well done lad !

Wow, never knew it was such a massive production with all the sub editing teams whilst live on air. Fascinating & great video!

I'm a long time F1 fan from Italy, and I loved this video. Very insightful and well produced. Keep up the good work bro!

Just stumbled onto this video today. Very nicely done, young man. I appreciate all the effort you put into this.

Thanks for this great video. It was probably mentioned by somebody already: There's a new type of camera in use in F1 - the helmet-cam or drivers-eye-cam. This sometimes delivers stunning views of the action. Other times it tends to be somewhat confusing to watch. But it's a great addition to an already incredible effort to present this interesting highly technical sport. Greetings from Germany.

Being a big F1 fan from years now, it really makes me respect the sport even more! Thanks for this! Just curious, Who is your favourite driver?

Enjoyed the video, I’m always looking for information on F1 details ! Great job!

Great job. This was a great video. All the information was well presented and shown. I think we watch these shows and take for granted what we get to see. Wow!!

Loved the segment Tommy. Really well prepared and the detailed explanation was an absolute pleasure to watch. I think your next step should be Hollywood - great film making potential !!

Great video :) I spotted you're doing a part 2. Not sure if you're aware but they moved that mobile production center back to Biggin Hill last year, which makes it even more insane that they're now able to manage all those video feeds and put out a live broadcast when the race could be happening on the other side of the planet!

An excellent production! What goes into an F1 program is truly amazing! Thanks for this.

i love this f1 content. its so informative yet exciting to hear it. please make more f1 content. i''ll look forward more.

OMG, I love F1 and I’m going to Silverstone F1 Grand Prix this year and has really given me an insight! 🏁🏎

Different video but amazing, it was a very interesting insight into the process. Cannot wait to see more!

Great job, thank you so much. I have been watching F1 since early 2000 and I didn't miss a race since 2007. This is the first time every to know how the filmed it and this kind of information is really amazing.

Amazing work and background research. Was so informative. Great Job!!

Shout out to the Australian TV crews of the V8 Supercar/Touring Car Championship who have been world leaders in innovating motorsport coverage since the 70s! Seriously, without the Bathurst 1000, Motorsport coverage would be nowhere near what it is today. Big love.

Great video! I always enjoy the BTS stuff that no one typically sees. Thanks! 👍🏼

That was awesome!! Thanks for all of your hard work. I’ve been an F1 fan for over 30 years and in all of that time I don’t think I’ve ever wondered where the Microphones were! I’ll be looking from now on! Very impressive research! I’m also a teacher and I’m going to reference your channel in my classroom when I discuss the importance of citing sources!!!

Awesome video! Im still fascinated every time i watch a F1 broadcast. Especially after i watched that video where they show how they managed the germany vettel crash race. Crazy to see how high quality your video is. Really nice camera quality, audio is good, the editing and the research as well. tbh im kinda suprised you ''only'' have around 500 subs. Got my sub too! only minor ''mistake'' (if you can even call it that) would be that i think since either 2020 or 2021 they dont build the broadcasting center on track anymore. Wendover Productions mentions that in their video ''How Live TV Works''. But that could be wrong too. normally they are right with their research tho.

Fantastically done! Beautifully edited (F1 should contact you😊). Moreover, thank you for your pleasant demeanor and your self restraint to avoid corny jokes or self aggrandizing. On top of all this, very informative. RU-vidrs should learn from you. Thank you.

Really cool info, dude! Thank you for putting this together!!

Great job! Finally got a glimpse of what happens behind the curtains 👍